Fixer

Alrighty-rooney, boys and girls! The thread is up and running! Time to get cracking.

Where we stand right now (This will be updated):
Update 1: Looks like we're looking at having the first Job in Hong Kong (unless there's unknown severe objections), with the possibility of making it the home location, which will be decided afterwards. Seems like everyone's happy with their roles now, and there's a good spread, so I think I'm going to call those pretty much set.
Update 2: It's been moved to Macau, because casinos are fun. Character sheets are incoming, Mark and Client info will be incoming. Now it's time to line up spotlight scenes.

The Plot for the first Job: (work in progress)
Update 1: Current possible pieces of ideas: something on a boat, corporate corruption, human trafficking.
Update 2: The Fixer has chosen a Mark, and will put up some basic details on him soon, just to aid in setting up spotlight scenes for this first job. However, at the moment, the Client will be a displaced resident of Macau (more on him later as well), whose land was seized to build yet another casino hotel in Macau.

1. Start thinking about what kind of spotlight scene you would like that would show off your primary Role skills and whatnot. Post ideas below and we'll see if we can weave them into a coherent story.
2. Give some rudimentary info about who your character is. You don't have to put secrets up or anything, but just make sure that the Crew won't try to kill each other/quit right after this.
3 (new). Get stats worked out that need to be worked out pre-Job. Putting this here because I know some of you are done/working on it.

Chat in the Leverage chat or in here, I just wanted us to have a solid spot to start and a more permanent-feeling place to put our ideas. I'd like to get all this sorted by end of Thursday if possible, as I'll be afk that weekend but can use the time to plan stuff out. If it takes longer, no worries.

Brief Background:
Oliver was orphaned at the age of 3 when his parents were killed in a fire. Forced to fend for himself on the streets of Merseyside alongside other orphaned children, Oliver turned to pickpocketing as a means of survival.
Necessity being the mother of invention, Oliver would also teach himself locksmithing/lockpicking to supplement his income or just find a shelter (uninvited) for the night.

When he was 13, Oliver happened to catch a conman work a game of Three Card Monte. That sparked an interest in card tricks and within a month, Oliver would be working with his fellow orphans to organize Three Card Monte scams of their own.

Eventually, Oliver reached a turning point when he had a chance encounter with a young woman in the park. The young lady was in tears and Oliver learnt that she had been robbed of her savings and would likely not be able to go to college because of this. Ever the gentlemen, Oliver used his skills to steal back the money and return it to the grateful lady.

Following that job, Oliver had a time of reflection and wondered how his past thefts, innocent as they might have seemed, had affected the unfortunate victims.
Deciding that he didn't want to just go through life simply stealing and causing misery to others, Oliver tried to go straight and use his skills legally.

He faced an uphill battle due to his lack of proper education but was given a chance by a security firm who had witnessed his skills in the art of thievery. With their help, he apprenticed as a security consultant by day and took private courses at night.

Two years later, the same firm would be sending him around the world to test out security system for clients. Oliver would always use the cover of a street magician as a means to scope out the place in the day before attempting to break in at night. He would earn a reputation as one of the best safecrackers in the business despite his young age. He was also given the nickname "Oliver Twist" due to his background and unorthodox methods of testing a security system.

Personality:
Despite his past, Oliver maintains a cheerful disposition and is ever the gentlemen. He has a kind heart and unique sense of humour. While he would never harm a person, he isn't opposed to playing a prank or two in the name of fun.

Background:
As third generation Korean-Taiwanese-American, Lynden's first (and virtually only) language is English. She has little or no proficiency in Korean or Taiwanese, but can understand certain words if spoken to in a demanding or patronizing way.

Pushed to be a virtuoso by traditional parents, Lynden took up various musical instruments starting at the age of 2 with the xylophone. By six, the violin became her most prominent. At the age of 9, she began programming, following her older brother's interest in computers. She also began taekwondo and shooting classes in the summer and skiing classes in the winter.

By 12, Park gave up the violin to train for the Biathlon, a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. Computer programming and assembly took a backseat as a second hobby where she regularly challenges her brother. This became part of their bonding time.

At 16, Lyn's brother pursued a medical career instead of computer science, prompting her to snatch the field for herself. By 18, she was accepted into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she met alumni [insert @Chase's character here].

She's now in Hong Kong, following a Master's Thesis circuitously funded by @Chase.

Lynden's Korean aunt is married to a 300-pound Cuban-African-American USMC Lieutenant nicknamed 'Big'. He makes excellent kimchi noodles, has an inspiring sense of humor, and has always been one of the driving forces for her needs to "Save the less fortunate."

Park is not keen on her uncle learning about the current role she has taken under @Chase.

Description:
Small-built, and standing at only 5'2", Lynden Park is the typical lithe Asian girl. She's averse to piercings but considers herself an adrenaline junkie and will almost always choose to ski down a slope with a rifle on her back before tackling real-world problems. She loves to crack codes and people, although preferably not at the same time.

Her clothes are demure for her personality, but she finds comfort in flashes of extreme color under sufficient neutrals.

Lynden has a picture of a tattoo that says "Code like a monk, kick like an ass" on the background of her smart phone (she's also averse to actual tattoos).

Fixer

To help you all plot your spotlight scenes for this Job, I give you the Mark and the Client. For this Job, however you want to take the Mark down and make them pay is theoretically up for grabs. If you want there to be a paper trail, there is. If you want him to owe the Triads, he does. That's why I gave you the bare-bones info, instead of the "This is how it is." It's still malleable. Whatever is needed to get you the spotlight scenes you want for your characters.

The Mark

[bimg]http://www.worldofstock.com/slides/PMO2451.jpg[/bimg]

Name: David ChenOccupation: Chairman and CEO of Daystar Casinos International, Ltd.Strengths: Very ambitious, very wealthy, very sure of himself and his goalsWeaknesses: Wants to be recognized as more powerful, smarter, and better than his father, is very impulsive, quick to anger

Bare-bones Info: David Chen, through underhanded means, got the government to seize the land that the Client as well as many other fishermen on the waterfront through eminent domain, and then grant it to him. The Client was the last holdout, not having the means to afford public housing and not having the skills or knowledge to do anything except fish as he had his whole life, and then his hut mysteriously burned down and his boat sank. He wants enough to get a place of his own again by the water and a boat to fish with, and he wants David Chen to suffer for what he did.

Commander

Name: Nova RamirezAliases: Nadine JonesAge: 24Country of Origin: United States of America

Primary Role: HitterSecondary Role: Thief

Background:
Nova grew up backstage on movie sets with her Dominican-born mother, who worked as a Hollywood fight coordinator. At age thirteen, she was quick to pick up the family trade, becoming a double for action roles that required more physical skills. This allowed her to train with many specialists in martial arts along with the use of firearms and exotic weaponry.

As someone who suffers from magpie-syndrome (naturally attracted to shiny objects), the high risk low paying job of a stunt double wasn't quite working for her. Growing up in L.A. she saw a stark contrast between the gang ridden streets and the multi-million-dollar manors. She wanted a taste of the good life, and if she could take a slice of it from someone who didn't deserve it, all the better.

Starting off with small time crimes, Nova used her learned skills to pull off jewelry thefts at affluent house parties. She was nearly caught once by a wandering guest, who she quickly subdued. He turned out to be a professional thief, and later asked her to join a local crew where her job was to ensure that his lock-pickers and hackers never ran into any trouble from security. She made a good amount of money running with them for a short time. However, after a theft gone wrong, Nova barely escaped and has been bouncing from place to place while the heat dies down in Los Angeles.

Her recent port of call is in Asia, where she is hoping to lay low while working on a Hong Kong Cinema project.

Personality:
Nova is a free spirit. She enjoys parties, dancing and spending the money she earns. This doesn't necessarily means she splurges it all on herself. Her mindset is very much focused on living in the moment, and she has been known to drop all of her earnings to help a friend (or even stranger) in need.

Distinctions:Latin Temper
(Negative) - Nova is rather headstrong and proud when it comes to her work or personal traits, she will not easily take failure or criticism despite how much of it she dishes out on others. When confronted she may oppose, shift blame or lash out.
(Positive) - A quick shot of adrenaline from her temper can make her faster and stronger than she would otherwise be. It also seems to help her ignore a certain amount of danger and pain.

Director

Background:
Born in Bali, Indonesia to missionary parents, Canaan Todd spent much of his early childhood among Hindu and Muslim pacific islanders. By the age of 11, he was sent back to the United States, practically adopted by a philanthropist uncle in California.

Encouraged by a desire discover what made things tick, Todd entered university for engineering, but dropped out to form a robotics company with a friend. The start-up soon made millions producing computerised parts for redundant machines and automated vehicles, gaining backing from established firms. The company was eventually swallowed by a larger conglomerate during the initial dot-com boom, but by then Todd and his partner were already billionaires.

Canaan continued operating his company as CEO for several years after, but stepped down late last year for personal reasons. Notoriously private, he refrained from revealing much about the issue, but many have attributed his leave to illness.

For the past 5 years, he often spoke at universities, also funding student projects and papers on promising topics. He had since been granted 2 honorary degrees from MIT.

It wasn’t well known that a younger Todd was part of a white hat hacker group that extracted information about corrupted officials in Indonesia. However, it was public knowledge that the CEO spent many months yearly in South East Asia, which contributed to the messy split with his wife. She remained an on-again-off-again relationship.

In truth, Canaan Todd was recently diagnosed with cancer of the brain, and while awaiting results, he became persuaded that he needed to use his existing talent and connections to fix life for the less fortunate. Sooner was better than later.

Description:
Tall and medium-built, Canaan Todd has black hair and sports a trimmed beard that gives him a perpetual ’thoughtful’ look. He used to be identifiable with a pair of blue John-Lennon-glasses, but no longer wears them after corrective surgery. This does leave his vision sensitive to certain bright lighting, and he always carries a pair of aviator sunglasses. Most of his clothes are tailored, but Todd is rarely seen in a business suit. Instead he wears a polo shirt and jeans with sandals traditionally handmade in Italy. He most frequently wears on his left wrist a Cartier Rotonde Grande complication skeleton watch worth an estimated $600k.

Distinction:Idealistic
Positive: Generally, he's confident, optimistic, and often altruistic.
Negative: On the opposite end, he could be quixotic, speculative, and impractical.

Fixer

Alright, for some reason it's not letting me edit my posts, so I'll just put the new update down here.

Update 3: Definitely Macau, we have the Mark and Client, and all the characters sorted, and 4 out of 5 of them posted with the last one forthcoming once RL allows time. We've got a few ideas for the plot, and a good setup for some Flashbacks. Still working on spotlight scenes.

The Plot for the first Job: (work in progress)
Update 1: Current possible pieces of ideas: something on a boat, corporate corruption, human trafficking.
Update 2: The Fixer has chosen a Mark, and will put up some basic details on him soon, just to aid in setting up spotlight scenes for this first job. However, at the moment, the Client will be a displaced resident of Macau (more on him later as well), whose land was seized to build yet another casino hotel in Macau.
Update 3: The group will most likely be meeting in the Ritz-Carlton in Hong Kong to plan the caper, to allow for plenty of introductory Flashbacks. A couple good ideas for the general plot have been posted as well. 1. Get the Mark to lose his company "accidentally" in a high-stakes gamble. 2. (my personal favorite so far) Convince the Mark that he can get control over more or all casinos in Macau, if only he puts up some collateral...

1. Spotlight scenes, and how we can tie them all into a plot. For this Job, it doesn't have to fit together perfectly. This is the tutorial. Page 46 of the book, which is page 52 of the pdf, has a blue sidebar that describes the generic idea of what coming up with them is like.

V.I.L.E.

Background:
Born 15 July 1990 in Ceuta, Omar spent the first eight years of his life cultivating his street survival skills on the city streets. On his ninth birthday Omar ran into trouble with local militants exerting an increased presence within the city. By November, Omar had successfully smuggled himself to New York City. From there, he used the city as a stepping stone to ply his trade wherever the wind blows him. Recent months bought whispers of a need for a confidence man in Hong Kong, and Omar soon found himself en route to the city.

Personality:
Omar, when not performing, tends to keep to himself and is generally reluctant to share his skills or secrets with anyone. His sense of humor when not in a showy mode tends to be very black. Omar can speak both English and Moroccan Arabic.

Distinction: Introverted
-Positive; A natural poker face allows him to easily put on a front and ply his trade.
-Negative;An unease with large groups will cause some performance anxiety in very large groups.

This is presumably 'mission center' until further notice. (We're using it because of the nifty private elevator from suites to carpark feature. And let's face it, personalized stationery is also nice.) How you get here, is your story to tell.